1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a personal watercraft (PWC) which ejects water rearward and planes on a water surface as the resulting reaction. More particularly, the present invention relates to a personal watercraft capable of easily cleaning a cooling water passage of at least a part of an engine or auxiliary device mounted therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, so-called jet-propulsion personal watercraft have been widely used in leisure, sport, rescue activities, and the like. The personal watercraft is configured to have a water jet pump that pressurizes and accelerates water sucked from a water intake generally provided on a bottom surface of a hull and ejects it rearward from an outlet port. Thereby, the personal watercraft is propelled. In the jet-propulsion personal watercraft, a steering nozzle provided behind the outlet port of the water jet pump is swung either to the right or to the left, to change the ejection direction of the water to the right or to the left, thereby turning the watercraft to the right or to the left.
In the personal watercraft, an engine configured to drive the water jet pump is mounted within a relatively narrow engine room defined by the hull and a deck covering the hull from above. The personal watercraft typically has a water-cooling system configured to draw water from outside the watercraft through the water jet pump and supply the water to cooling water passages of the engine, and an auxiliary device for use as cooling water to cool these devices (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-357125). Such a cooling system is simple and has high cooling capability.
When the personal watercraft is used on sea, sea (salt) water is used to cool the engine and the auxiliary device. After the watercraft is beached, the cooling water passages or the like of the engine and the auxiliary device must be cleaned using fresh water.
In the conventional cleaning system, the cooling water passages or the like are typically cleaned in such a manner that a plug covering a water inlet, which is provided at an upper end portion of the engine, is removed, and a tip end of a hose is inserted into the water inlet by an operator to allow the fresh water to be supplied to the cooling water passages through the water inlet.
In the personal watercraft constructed as described above, the operator must hold the hose while cleaning the cooling water passages. In order to expose the engine to allow the fresh water to be supplied, a straddle-type seat provided over the engine must be removed.
During cleaning, the engine must be running to allow the cooling water passage within the engine or the auxiliary device to be sufficiently cleaned using fresh water (cleaning water). If the engine is running with the seat removed, then a loud noise is emitted from the engine.